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Genotype Testing Lowers Cardiac Risk in Diabetics, Says Synvista

Posted on: Thursday, 6 March 2008, 06:00 CST

Synvista Therapeutics has reported a pre-planned sub-analysis from the ICARE study which demonstrated that the addition of vitamin E to statin therapy prevented more cardiovascular events than statin therapy alone in patients with diabetes mellitus who tested positive for a genetic marker called haptoglobin 2-2 or Hp2-2.

In the placebo-controlled ICARE study, more than 3,000 patients were tested for Haptoglobin phenotype, and the 801 patients who had the Hp2-2 phenotype and were also taking statins were randomized to receive either natural source vitamin E (400 IU daily) or placebo. Results demonstrated a dramatic reduction in the event rate of those taking combination therapy of vitamin E and statins compared with statin treatment alone (1.3% compared with 4.1%, respectively, p=0.017) after 600 days.

The ICARE study is a prospective, randomized placebo controlled trial of vitamin E therapy in individuals with diabetes mellitus and the Haptoglobin 2-2 genotype. The study was halted in 2007 based on a 50% decrease in cardiovascular events in patients with Hp2-2 taking vitamin E, as the primary endpoints had been met.

Noah Berkowitz, president and CEO of Synvista, said: "These data are significant because they demonstrate that Haptoglobin testing may help physicians tailor optimal therapy for patients with diabetes who may be at risk for cardiovascular events. The knowledge of who would benefit from this nutriceutical is valuable for patients and physicians and may be cost saving for payers."

Source: Datamonitor

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